Oakland Athletics: 2014 Midseason Grades
By Cody Pasby
Defense
Third baseman Donaldson has committed 15 errors so far, the most in the American League. Usually, this would be a cause for concern, but anyone who has watched Donaldson play the hot corner knows that he is without question the best defensive third baseman in the game today. Donaldson has made over the tarp catches, diving stops and leaping throws reminiscent of Brooks Robinson all season long. And, as is the A’s way, a look at the advanced statistics reveals just how good Donaldson has been. He is tied with Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon with 17 total zone runs, which roughly calculates the total number of runs prevented by a certain player, and he leads the AL with 2.1 defensive wins above replacement. If Donaldson doesn’t have a Gold Glove by season’s end, it is because voters looked at the errors and not the full body of work.
Sabermetrics strike again when we look at the A’s defense as a whole. The team is below the league average in fielding percentage, but that statistic is based on errors, which can be misleading as rulings are arbitrary at times. When looking at defensive efficiency though, which gives the percentage of balls in play converted into outs, the A’s rank second in the league with a .712 percentage. That number makes more sense when watching the A’s play defensively, and when considering the amount of good defenders they have like Cespedes and Punto. This is a very good defensive ballclub, and while the A’s would be the first team to say the numbers don’t lie, in this case some of them do.
Grade: A-